Dutch PM Rutte fends off far right but loses seats

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s center-right party beat off a challenge from far-right firebrand Geert Wilders on Wednesday to come first in a parliamentary election despite losing seats, a projection based on partial results showed.

Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) was projected to win 32 seats, nine fewer than at the last election in 2012. Wilders’ anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) was in a race for second place with two other parties. He was predicted to end up with 19 seats, up four on last time.

The other contenders for second place, the Christian Democrats and the liberal D66 party, both made gains. They were projected to end up with 20 and 18 seats respectively, according to a projection from Dutch news agency ANP, with around 28 percent of votes counted.

The Labor Party (PvdA), Rutte’s junior coalition partner, faced the biggest electoral loss in its history. It was forecast to win just 10 seats — down from 38 last time. The GreenLeft party posted a spectacular advance, going from four seats to 14 in the 150-member lower house of parliament.

The vote was widely seen as the first major electoral test of right-wing populism since Britain’s Brexit referendum and U.S. President Donald Trump’s election victory last year. It is also the first major European election in a year that will also see voters in France choose a president and Germany elect a new parliament.

“Our message to the Netherlands worked. We want to continue keeping the country safe and stable in the coming years,” Rutte told supporters at a post-election party in The Hague. “We’re hearing the message from all across Europe: the Netherlands stopped the wrong sort of populism.”

Wilders told reporters in parliament that his party was “one of the winners of this vote.”

“That’s a result to be proud of,” he said. “We will continue our fight. I think our influence on the campaign and election programs has been significant.”

As Rutte intimated, result prompted sighs of relief from European governments. “Large majority of Dutch voters have rejected anti European populists. That’s good news,” the German Foreign Ministry declared on Twitter. “We need you for a strong #Europe!”

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, preparing to host a 60th anniversary EU summit in Rome later this month, said “the anti-EU right lost the elections in the Netherlands. Now for common engagement to change and relaunch the Union.”

German Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz, who is challenging Angela Merkel for the chancellorship, tweeted in both Dutch and German: “I’m relieved. But we must keep fighting for an open and free Europe!”

Populist notes

Rutte last week called upon voters to “stop the domino-effect” of populism. However, the prime minister also sounded some populist notes in his own campaign. In an advert published in Dutch newspapers, he said people should leave the Netherlands if they rejected the country’s values.

The final days of the Dutch campaign were dominated by a bitter dispute between Rutte’s government and Turkey, after Dutch authorities prevented Turkish ministers from holding rallies in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s planned constitutional changes.

Rutte will now have to form a new coalition government, a task that could take some time. The next Dutch government looks certain to be made up of four parties, a higher number than ever before. Two permutations looked possible — both led by Rutte’s VVD and including the Christian Democrats and the D66 liberals, with either GreenLeft or Labor completing the line-up.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Labor finance minister in the outgoing government, described the result for his party as “very disappointing.” But the vast majority of voters rejected the extreme populists. Which gives hope for the future,” he tweeted.

Turnout in the election was 82 percent, higher than the 74.6 percent in the last parliamentary vote five years ago.

According to the projection, two new parties will enter parliament — the pro-immigrant DENK, with three seats, and the far-right Forum for Democracy with two.

Tony

Britain has no history of right or left wing populism . It votes consistently for centrist parties. Those voting Brexit were ordinary people not extremists. Wilders seems quite far to the right of what most of the British electorate would feel comfortable voting for. They seem akin to the tiny BP party.

I do not know if immigration is a main stream issue in the Netherlands and whether or not there was a moderate party that could express the concerns of ordinary people on the subject.

Posted on 3/15/17 | 9:41 PM CEST

Tom Cullem

I stayed up to watch the results and find them very interesting. First, I think Wilders threw the election when he suspended his public campaigning a month ago, after leading in the polls for months. I suspect Wilders knew that if he “won” the election (as such things are measured in The Netherlands), he would face a humiliating failure to form a government as no one from any other party would work with him. Thus, withdrawing somewhat shortly before the election, I think Wilders understood, would give Rutte and the VVD the most seats, but that Wilders and the PVV would do well enough to continue in a position to influence the political landscape.

And, indeed, that is what the exit polls seem to indicate: Rutte may have gotten the most seats, but his party lost seats from the last election, while Wilders’ party gained seats. Four parties may tie for second place, with the PVV slightly ahead of the other three.

So, those touting this as some sort of definitive rejection of “populism”, need to look at the real numbers: the Labour Party suffered a disaster, the Green-Left did spectacularly well, Rutte/VVD pulled it out but not by enough to represent a serious majority and lost seats, and the dastardly populists actually did fairly well and picked up more seats – despite the very juicy bone that Erdogan in Turkey threw to Rutte in the last three weeks. And, believe me, I am one of those wondering about the, er, “lucky” timing of that . . .

Posted on 3/15/17 | 9:52 PM CEST

teo

All propaganda websites call geert losers. even if he doenst get the majority, he’s projected to be 2nd, and has gain seats. And this after massive propaganda, demonization and even “legal” process against him. White resistance has begun

Posted on 3/15/17 | 10:15 PM CEST

RM

It is sad to notice that many Brits are disappointed by this result. They try to rationalise it, but we can tell. They were hoping for a populist tsunami, of which they were the pioneers. If Le Pen fails, they will just feel isolated in the middle of the ocean, looking to Trump for support. Fortunately, most British people don’t feel like that, even though they are not as vocal online as the others.

Posted on 3/15/17 | 10:52 PM CEST

Filippo

This is a great day for rock music: the fourth member of The Police hasn’t become PM and can join back the band (just warn him they changed their hairstyle in the meanwhile).
It’s a great day for tax evading companies as well: they still have their favourite safe haven within the eurozone.
Just a sad note for our dear old friend and great statesman Jeroen Djisselbloem. Hey, Jerry, 6%? All that axlicking to Herr Schauble apparently didn’t pay out so well. Things that happen when you ask vote to socialists voters for doing the opposite. You are not the first one, ask Papandreu, Hollande, Gabriel, Zapatero…very likely you won’t be the last

Posted on 3/15/17 | 10:58 PM CEST

StillScary

Rutte has won, apparently, but his party lost 10% of the vote in comparison to the last election. Some Erdoganists covertly campaigning for a restrictive Netherlands behind a liberal facade have scored 3 seats. The Citizen s forum, who are politically very close to Wilder’s, who put their ideology, however, more into an intellectual wrapper, have scored 2 seats, one less then Erdogan’s Netherlands apparatshiks. So Wilders + Citizens Forum + Erdogan s Fifth Column get together a scary 24 seats out of 150. None of those guys does have a truely democratic mindset.

Posted on 3/15/17 | 11:01 PM CEST

Tony

Rm

Please provide evidence that Many Brits are disappointed by this result. As I remark above Britain is a very centrist country and few of us woud have been happy to vote for wilders who looks to be pretty far to the right.

Tom Cullem

Rutte’s government in actuality received a vote of no confidence from the electorate and a government consisting of four distinct parties is a recipe for failure.

Posted on 3/16/17 | 12:12 AM CEST

EUWP

To all the far-right populist trolls here, this is your revolution in the making, your wave of liberation. Austria did not fall. The Netherlands did not fall. Stokes did not fall either. Let’s meet again in April for the French elections. This is going to be the big one. Meanwhile let’s enjoy all the rationalising about why the populists don’t do as well as their big mouths say they will.

Posted on 3/16/17 | 1:18 AM CEST

I might be wrong, but...

Glad to see that Rutte has majority of seats, and that Netherlands government will be represented by all minority/political opinions. Maybe Netherlands is the only true democratic nation of the eu. Strong opposition by all factions can only ever lead to a more democratic society, true majority % opinion rule with everyone’s frame of reference taken into account. Everyone’s voice counts, and is heard, but the nation adheres to true democracy & abides by majority rule, not brow beaten by the right wing loud shouters……

Posted on 3/16/17 | 1:58 AM CEST

DIY

@ EUWP

The French elections will make Le Pen fail in the second round, anyone that knows anything about EU politics knows that.

Juncker happy, Merkel happy, Verhofstadt happy, Schultz happy,.. sais enough? And no there was no real alternative for Wilders. The ‘covert Erdoganists’ were Denk, they got one or two seats.
Sad to say, but any sanity in Europe will have to come from the East.

Posted on 3/16/17 | 2:11 AM CEST

Drakes drum

And now Rutte can go back on his tough words and the Muslim invasion can start again. I bet not one extremist will be ejected from the country, white people will be prosecuted for holding views they the liberal elites don’t like and ordinary people will still be scared to walk the streets at night in some areas. The Rotterdam. The vote for wilders in Rotterdam was telling, people who already experience what being a monitory In your own country is like. The complacency will stop eventually but it will be too late for Holland. This is why many northern English cities voted for brexit, they have real experience of multicultural reality. The liberal elites have a rose tinted view which is removed from the reality of the common man or woman. Being a woman this year I. Europe will be tough, another wave of young Muslim men with no morals or self control are coming. The people of Holland have not suffered enough yet…. they will. Then the liberal scales will fall from their eyes, will it be too late? Churchill was a lone voice against the nazis for years, ridiculed and called extreme. Eventually the pandering and appeasement stopped when it was realised that it didn’t work and just made the threat worse. By that time many Europeans were living in fear and oppression. another invasion is coming and we appease the invaders. Churchill studied history and it gave him an insight into the repeat cycle of history and the unchangability of human nature. We are making history in Europe, but it may never be written down and the victors write history and the indigenous populations of Europe are being led blindly to the woods to be shot

Posted on 3/16/17 | 8:05 AM CEST

Yeah

Next Scotland to liberate it self form the populism of westminster. Bye bye uk project fear. We love you Netherlands.

Posted on 3/16/17 | 8:36 AM CEST

Johann M. Wolff

@EUWP

Alon the right populists there are the left populists (you seem to be one of those).

Which perhaps missed your attention, is that Rutte adopted much of Wilders’ rhetoric.

Posted on 3/16/17 | 8:50 AM CEST

YEAH

Scottish in Scotland

@yeah,
You are representative of the problem with the Scottish independence movement.
Can you explain to me exactly how “freedom” will benefit you?
Are you so dependent on the state that only the SNP can “free” you?
What will you do with your “freedom”?

Posted on 3/16/17 | 10:29 AM CEST

tg

@ Scottish in Scotland,

I would ignore Mr yeah, you just have to look at the structure of the posts and language misuse to know that he’s a troll. Knowing the quality of the education system in Scotland its very very unlikely he’s “authentic”

Posted on 3/16/17 | 11:12 AM CEST

tony

EUWP and Yeah

here is one definition of populists that I thought rather good.

‘Populism is a political doctrine that proposes that the common people are exploited by a privileged elite, and which seeks to resolve this. The underlying ideology of populists can be left, right, or center. Its goal is uniting the uncorrupt and the unsophisticated “little man” against the corrupt dominant elites (usually the established politicians) and their camp of followers (usually the rich and the intellectuals).

I do not know why politico sneers at populists or seems to believe they are exclusively far right wing. Surely they are merely democrats? Are you two some of the unaccountable elite?

Britain is very centrist. It has never elected far right or far left govts. Wilders would have got nil seats if he had been standing in the UK. Where on earth do you get this idea the UK is far right wing and equate us with Donald Trump.